Kalamazoo Public Schools representatives stressed the importance of generating new revenues to fund K-12 education.

A 90-minute roundtable discussion Monday between state officials and KPS board members and administrators offered yet another round in an all-too-familiar debate over how to fix the state’s budget problems and adequately fund education.

All agreed that education funding should be a top priority. And all lamented the 3 percent cut in K-12 funds for this budget year and likelihood of more cuts in fiscal 2010 and 2011.

“Education is important, there’s no debate about that,” said DeShazor, R-Portage. “The question is, how are we going to get there,” in terms of stabilizing the funding situation and freeing up more money for schools.

DeShazor said he’s part of a bipartisan group looking to overhaul Michigan’s tax system. One idea, for instance, is to lower the sales tax but broaden it to include services. “We need a funding source that is easy to track, easy to understand and makes us competitive” compared to other states, DeShazor said.

Meanwhile, Deb Shields, legislative aide for state Sen. Tom George, R-Texas Township, pointed to a series of spending reforms proposed by Senate Republicans that would reduce the pay of public employees, including educators, and force them to pick up a greater share of their benefits.

Both suggested that increasing the overall tax burden is a bad idea. “Everything is on the table, but there are opportunities in government (savings) that we have to address first before we ask for more revenue,” DeShazor said.

“Government does not create revenue,” he added. “We have to work with what we have right now.”

Those points were sharply questioned by KPS Superintendent Michael Rice and board members.

“What are you doing on the revenue side?” board Vice President Carol McGlinn asked. “All I see is cutting, cutting, cutting.”

“I do like the spirit that everything is on the table,” Rice said. “But it seems some ideas are more on the table than others. Some things are being given awfully short shrift. Some things are only metaphorically on the table.”

Trustee Patti Sholler-Barber said she “appreciates that reform is in the air and no one will be exempt.”

But, she said, cutting teacher salaries and benefits could hurt Michigan in the long run by discouraging “the best and the brightest” from going into education. “What are we doing to make sure this career isn’t under attack?” she said.

“We can’t balance the state budget on the backs of state employees, by cutting their salaries and benefits,” DeShazor responded. “But we do have to be practical and be in line with the private sector.”

Rice said he’s worried that lawmakers will continue to talk about long-term solutions without coming to any resolution. He said the fiscal situation for many school districts is reaching a crisis point and there to be needs immediate attention paid.

“We haven’t experienced a crash yet, but it’s right there, eight or nine months off,” the Kalamazoo superintendent said. “And I don’t see a whole lot of urgency. The urgency is greater than last year, I can see, but not enough to craft a real solution.”